Jasmine Hughes

A bare back fence can make a yard feel exposed, and a row of shrubs that also feeds…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 3

Every fall, stink bugs across North Carolina start hunting for a cozy place to wait out the cold.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 3

You lift the porch light on a cool evening and spot a toad tucked beside the steps. Is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 3

By the time fall settles in, many beds start to look tired. Big-headed aster is a native perennial…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 3

Hummingbirds seem to vanish from North Carolina yards all at once, but the real story is messier. Some…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

Some fall memories start with a wagon ride and end with a pumpkin that is almost too heavy…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

By October, many North Carolina flower beds have gone quiet. Monarch butterflies heading south may still look for…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

Shady ground under big trees is hard to plant, and many North Carolina yards end up with Japanese…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

Chewed, brown patches in a North Carolina lawn in late summer can send anyone hunting for a quick…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

Every yard seems to have one spot where water sits after a storm and the grass turns to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 2

You reach for a log and spot a shiny black spider tucked into the stack. Your first thought…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

That fragrant vine climbing along your wooded edge may look harmless, but in North Carolina it is often…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

A glossy black snake slides along your garden edge, and your heart skips. In North Carolina, that visitor…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

Walk out to your pepper patch in October and you may find a clump of stink bugs sitting…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

A flash of bright blue zips across your mulch and vanishes under a leaf. It is a small…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

Walk out your door in late summer or fall and you may run into silk strung across the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 1

Nandina shows up along front walks all over North Carolina, but its berries can poison cedar waxwings and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

You open the shed door and spot a long, dark snake tucked near the wall. Your first thought…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

Every spring, North Carolina yards burst into pink, white, and red azalea color. But many homeowners get a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

Boxwood has lined North Carolina foundations for generations, but boxwood blight and leafminers have left plenty of front…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

Spot a box turtle plodding across your North Carolina yard and you might wonder if it is doing…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

Planting a row of Leyland cypress along a fence has long been a common way to get privacy…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 30

That scraggly ditch bank you mow every other week could be the prettiest strip on your whole property.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Those tall canna leaves and bright flowers that carried your beds all summer are living on borrowed time…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

You flip on the porch light after dark and there it is again, a toad sitting right by…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Those brown, spiky seed heads on your coneflowers are not leftovers. They hold seeds you can gather and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

That glossy vinca on your hillside looks tidy, but it creeps into woods, smothers wildflowers, and does a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Carolina Chickadees are small, curious birds that stay in North Carolina all year. When cold weather arrives, finding…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Every spring, those long purple flower clusters on wisteria vines make homeowners want to fill their own arbors…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Many North Carolina gardeners plant butterfly bush expecting a pollinator paradise, but the picture is more complicated than…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Spot a small green lizard clinging to your potted fern or perched on a container plant near the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Spotting a bright green anole doing push-ups on a sunny fence rail is one of those small garden…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Fall cleanup in North Carolina means one thing for backyard composters: a mountain of leaves and yard waste…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Late September is not the obvious time to start seeds, but one cool-season vegetable still has a real…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Camellia shrubs are a backyard favorite across North Carolina, prized for their glossy leaves and stunning fall and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Fall color in North Carolina is shaping up to be anything but uniform this year. An August 2026…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Collards are one of North Carolina’s most beloved vegetables, but getting them to taste tender and mild instead…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Garlic planted into soggy fall soil can face a real problem in North Carolina, where heavy autumn rains…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Carolina Wrens are tough little birds, but a hard winter cold snap can push even year-round residents to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Plenty of North Carolina gardeners add lime and fertilizer every season out of habit, crossing their fingers and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Fall is a quiet but important season for camellias in North Carolina. While the plants look settled and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Japanese beetles tore through North Carolina yards this past summer, skeletonizing rose leaves, chewing up fruit trees, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Most North Carolina homeowners look at their holly shrubs in fall and wonder if there is something they…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Fig trees are one of the most rewarding plants a North Carolina homeowner can grow, but they have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Fall is the best time to do something useful with bare garden beds, and North Carolina gardeners have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

North Carolina’s fall foliage season is one of the most anticipated times of year for mountain travelers and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Aphids are one of the most frustrating problems a North Carolina lettuce grower can face, showing up fast…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

Yellowjackets can turn a relaxing afternoon in the yard into a painful surprise, especially when a colony is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

A brighter spring yard starts months before the flowers appear. In North Carolina, fall is the best time…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25